Friday, August 17, 2018

Why it's important for Rafizi to win PKR deputy presidential election

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It's not surprising that Azmin Ali has rejected the idea of a debate between him and Rafizi ahead of the PKR deputy presidential election.

Rafizi is an intellectual and a skilled debater. You can see his performance against Khairy Jamaluddin and see what a good orator he is.

Some people don't like Rafizi because they see him as a non-team player. He does not hesitate to raise a ruckus even though it upsets certain people within his party and the coalition. In contrast, Azmin is a smooth operator who knows how to play the game and secure power. He even became MB of Selangor despite his own party preferring Wan Azizah to play that role (the Selangor Palace preferred him, however). And now he seems to be favored by Dr M, who has tapped him to become Economic Affairs Minister and even has a seat on the board of Khazanah. That's how smooth he is.

Conspiracy theorists say that Dr M is propping him up as a counterbalance against Anwar and that eventually he would become Dr M's successor. While it's hard to imagine this actually being the case given that not only PKR but DAP and Amanah also want Anwar to become the next PM, it must be said that Dr M's elevation of Azmin's status by giving him the twin prestigious roles of Economics Minister and Khazanah board member does raise eyebrows a bit. What's more likely though is that Dr M, in his wily ways, wants to check some of Anwar's clout, that's all.

If Azmin is Dr M's blue-eyed boy, it probably makes sense that PKR elects someone like Rafizi to be its deputy president. It's also useful for Pakatan as a whole to have someone who is willing to ruffle some feathers and voice out some inconvenient truths.

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